


the bitterest boys in town

by icingsugardust



Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: M/M, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24954181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icingsugardust/pseuds/icingsugardust
Summary: Garrett has made a home on Aleks' couch, and he can't help but wonder why he doesn't mind.
Relationships: Aleksandr Vitalyevich Marchant/Garrett Westley Thomas
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	the bitterest boys in town

Aleks knows the first time made sense. Something like him staying late after Aleks had a few friends over and it just seeming easier for him to crash on Aleks’ couch than take the ten minute Uber home. He knows that one made sense. It was the next few that were less explainable, and then suddenly it’s the middle of January and Garrett is there at least half the time, lying on his couch, playing video games or doing whatever it is he does on his laptop. Sometimes Mishka or Celia - sometimes both - are lying with him, one of his hands stroking through fur while the other navigates his screen.

Aleks feels like he should mind, he feels like he should be asking what Garrett is doing here, why he’s not in his apartment that he’s paying rent for. But Aleks doesn’t mind. He likes having someone ask him what he wants for dinner, he likes having someone to talk to about his streams, he likes having someone to go with him when he walks Mishka. He likes having him around. And it becomes normal. 

It’s a colder day in late January when Garrett untangles himself from Aleks’ spare comforter that’s found a seemingly permanent home on his couch and makes his way across the living room to lean against the kitchen counter where Aleks is making coffee. It’s four in the afternoon.

“Dude your couch is fucking up my back.”

Then why are you sleeping on it instead of in your bed in your apartment? Is what he should ask, but instead he’s snorting out a laugh and saying, “You know my bed is big enough for two people, right?”

Garrett blinks at him once, then twice, before he’s shrugging and nodding his head, like Aleks makes a good point.

He doesn’t say anything else as he waits for Aleks to pass him his cup of coffee, and then he’s taking his coffee back to the couch. For a moment Aleks wonders if that will be it, but Garrett is just grabbing his laptop and his phone and then he’s making his way up the stairs and into Aleks’ bedroom. Aleks wonders if Garrett has even been in there more than once since he started this whole thing. 

Aleks decides not to think about it, except he does think about it, he thinks about it the entire day. He goes through the motions of what his workdays have become, deeply aware of Garrett on the other side of the wall more than likely sitting in his bed. He hears him move every now and again. At some point he goes downstairs - he does that twice - and at another he uses the bathroom but sometimes it’s just the sound of his bare feet on the faux-wooden floors. 

He’s able to ignore it better once he starts streaming, closing his door firmly to signal to Garrett that he’s going live the way he has for the last month and a half so the other guy knows not to come knocking until he’s done. Chat distracts him, streaming distracts him, but in the back of his mind he knows Garrett is still going to be there once he’s done. 

He probably stays on stream too long, and by the time he finally logs off and leaves his streaming room to go to sleep the lights are all off in his bedroom, but even with the blacked-out windows he can see the outline of Garrett’s body under the covers. He’s more relieved than he can say that he doesn’t actually have to navigate the pillow talk portion of sharing his bed and can instead just pass out. 

He shoves off his sweats and takes off his watch and ring but leaves his shirt and boxers on, not wanting either of them to suddenly get uncomfortable even if he’s sure Garrett is only in his underwear because that’s what he sleeps in. Those are the sorts of things he knows about Garrett now. He knows he sleeps in as little as possible but gets cold at night - if the thermostat is any indication - and he showers at night and never in the morning and he likes sugar in his coffee but only a little milk because he’s lactose-intolerant. 

Aleks sighs and climbs under the covers, burying himself under them and getting comfortable before finally relaxing, a good foot and a half between them. 

It’s then, once he’s settled, that he hears Garrett speak. 

“Goodnight.”

Aleks’ eyes open, and he stays silent for a few heartbeats before he replies. 

“Night, Garrett.”

\--

Aleks wasn’t sure what to expect when he woke up, aside from some awkwardness since that seemed inevitable. But what wakes him up in the end is Garrett coming back into the room with two mugs of coffee, wordlessly handing one to Aleks where he’s looking up at Garrett with half-awake squinted eyes. But he takes the mug and starts to sit up as Garrett settles himself under the covers again, and that’s all that happens. Their morning is the same as ever with them silently drinking their coffee until they’re awake enough to start talking about whatever the fuck comes to mind and then eventually Aleks is getting up to start his day. But that’s it. 

Aleks was right, though: Garrett is only wearing his boxers.

\--

It only takes a few nights - with breaks where Garrett will disappear back to his actual home for a day or two - before that foot and a half of distance starts to shrink. 

It’s a Sunday night, or more accurately a Monday morning, and Aleks is all but crawling into his bed by the time he’s done streaming. He’d been live for too long again and it had him a little less coherent than usual. So this time when he gets out of his jeans and flops down on the bed beside Garrett, who was still on his laptop up until that point, his arm is pressed against the younger guy’s side and he’s too tired to wonder if he’s meant to care. He’s too tired to wonder if Garrett is meant to push him away rather than just giggling softly at the dramatic sigh Aleks lets out as he shuts his eyes. 

He does move away once Garrett puts his laptop down, but only enough for Garrett to get comfortable, and they end up falling asleep with their backs just touching.

It’s four days later that he wakes up on his back with Garrett curled up against his side and the weight of his head on Aleks’ chest. He thinks he’s supposed to freak out, or at least tease Garrett about it, but he doesn’t say anything, and that night he presses his front to Garrett’s back and wraps an arm around his waist and he feels Garrett let out a breath that sounds like he’s been holding it in for weeks. Maybe he has. Aleks sleeps better that night than he has since the last time he had a partner in his bed. He’s never done well with being truly alone. 

\--

Much like Garrett’s presence in his apartment, falling asleep and waking up with their bodies pressed close becomes normal. They don’t talk about it, Aleks doesn’t ask and neither does Garrett, but he wants to; Aleks wants to know why he’s here, what he wants, if he wants anything at all. 

\--

And as it becomes normal, the nights when he’s alone in his home feel far too lonely to sleep for very long at all. The bags under Garrett’s eyes whenever he shows up again say it’s a mutual feeling.

\--

It’s late February and they may be edging ever closer to Spring but it’s still cold in Aleks’ apartment so he shivers as he pulls off his shirt. He’d stopped wearing it to bed at some point but he couldn’t tell you when he decided to just say fuck it.

Garrett is still awake despite the late hour, lying on his side with his phone in his hand. Aleks doesn’t hesitate to crawl into the bed and cuddle up close behind him. He doesn’t know when he started to want to press kisses to Garrett’s naked shoulders but he has to bite his lip to stop himself now.

He waits until Garrett puts down his phone before he lets out a soft hey into the quiet between them.

Garrett rolls over until he’s facing Aleks, a raised brow asking a question all on its own. Their faces are far closer than should be normal, though it seems they’re crafting their own new normal. But Aleks has decided to break the rules tonight.

“Gare, why are you here?”

His voice is gentle and low and quiet but it still makes fear flash in Garrett’s eyes, like Aleks is finally going to kick him out; like they haven’t been sharing a bed for over a month, like Aleks doesn’t have lactose-free milk in his fridge that he hates just for Garrett. Like Aleks doesn’t want to find out if his lips taste more like tobacco or weed.

When Garrett doesn’t answer him immediately Aleks is worried this was a rule he shouldn’t have dared to bend, but after a few more silent heartbeats, Garrett is speaking.

“Because I want to be here.”

It’s small, honest, and says more than Aleks expected Garrett to say.

The bedside lamp is still on, but it’s a soft light and it only just lets Aleks see Garrett’s face and the way he’s clearly waiting for Aleks to break his heart.

They don’t say anything for a moment while their eyes roam over the other’s face, like they’re looking for something they’re not sure is there. 

Aleks moves slowly, pushing himself forward until he can almost feel the way Garrett’s breathing hitches. He pauses, giving him the chance to move, to say no, to tell Aleks he’s got it all wrong, but then Garrett’s hand is coming up and his fingers are spreading out over Aleks’ chest with something akin to desperation and Aleks knows he’s never been more right.

So he pushes forward until their lips touch and then they’re melting. It’s slow and gentle and timid from both sides and it only grows in confidence after a few seconds of kissing. It turns out he doesn’t taste like tobacco or weed, but rather he tastes sweeter than he has any right to.

He pulls away, his hand on Garrett’s cheek as he licks his lips and then blinks at him.

“I want you to be here, too.”

He kisses him again, and it feels like the new normal.

**Author's Note:**

> may add a second chapter for the sake of Sex
> 
> title from Lemon Boy by Cavetown
> 
> thanks for reading <3


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